The Chairman House Committee on Interior and member representing Musawa/Matazu Federal Constituency, Hon. Abdullahi Aliyu Ahmed, has threatened to institute legal action against the management of Air Peace Limited over irregularities.
The lawmaker, who disclosed this Sunday, said the Nigerian airline has changed his flight from Business class to economy class after paying about N12 million from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport to Jeddah.
Ahmed, who boarded flight P4752 alongside his family to King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah for lesser hajj, said the flight was supposed to depart Kano airport on 27 March 2024, but it was delayed till the following day.
He said: “I paid about N12 million for a business class ticket on 22 March 2024 and we were supposed to depart Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on March 27 to Jeddah for lesser hajj. But the Air Peace operator changed the ticket to economy class without compensation.
“Unfortunately, they delayed our flight till the next day. This is a clear case of a breach of contract by Air Peace. They should pay back the money otherwise I will be left with no option but to approach the court for a redress.”
He expressed displeasure at the alarming cases of incessant delays, flight disruptions, and schedule changes without adequate notice to passengers by the management of the Air Peace Limited.
The legislator stated that the current record of flight disruptions, poor customer experience and poor handling of passengers by Air Peace is inhuman, unacceptable and must be tackled immediately.
He explained that the legal action was imperative because the scenario that happened between him and Air Peace is one of the numerous abnormalities customers are forced to suffer in the Nigerian aviation sector.
The Talban-Musawa and Dujiman-Katsina said his planned legal action against the operator of the airline would address the unabated ill-treatment being meted against passengers across the country.
He vowed to work with his colleagues in the National Assembly to ensure that Air Peace and other errant airlines are sanctioned appropriately without fear or favour, noting that it is no longer business as usual.
Another affected passenger, Ibrahim Shehu, called on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and relevant government agencies to intervene and recover money paid to the Air Peace by affected passengers.
He also called on the federal government to wade in, and stop the ongoing maltreatment of Nigerians and other travellers by Air Peace and other airlines in the country.